mgo.licio.us

"The face of the operation is Briatore (referred to exclusively in the film by his colleagues and angry, chanting detractors as "Flavio"), an anthropomorphic radish who spends most of his time at QPR plotting to fire all of the managers."

At press time, Harbaugh had sent Michigan’s athletic department an envelope containing a heavily annotated seating chart, a list of the 63,000 seat views he had found unsatisfactory, and a glowing 70-page report on section 25, row 12, seat 9, which he claimed is “exactly what the great sport of football is all about.”

While he did inherit a program in the midst of scandal turmoil, his job isn't without its advantages.

1) He coaches one of the most storied basketball football programs in the country.

2) His school is the flagship university in a state with plenty of high-level basketball football talent and is conveniently located near another large metropolitan area (Chicago) with even more talent.

3) He has had plenty of recruiting success, reeling in plenty of highly ranked and talented players.

4) His school has one of the most racuous home courts the largest stadium in the country providing optimal home court field advantage.

I have my undergrad degree from UM and grad degree from UCLA, so here's the deal. UCLA has weather and their student body some other pleasureable aesthetic advantages over UM. But, I've always wondered how they could recruit when they have to put their recruits in a car/bus and drive an hour+ in traffic to show them their stadium. The Rose Bowl is nowhere near campus, and the students don't have a clue about football. To me, selling UM's history and passion for the game and gameday experience is the biggest advantage. Sitting in the stands during a UCLA game and listening to fans (if they are even paying attention to the game) is a weird experience. They truly don't know anything about the game, nor do they really care.

It's really more than just a month. Meyer was effectively unemployed prior to the OSU job other than random color commentary gigs for espn. He could scout recruits and stay on top of things before being hired, so he likely had targets in mind the day he stepped in the door. Harbaugh was employed, and presumably focused on that job, until the day he was hired. I think that's likely a big difference too. Plus, Meyer was only one year removed from college coaching. Lots of elements that would swing the recruiting pendulum in his direction.

Hackett seems to be too in tune with the fanbase and tradition to mess with OSU. The only conclusion here is that he is blatantly telling the knowledgeable fanbase that the MSU game will be at night in 2015.

Maybe I'm out of touch, but doesn't "open thread" suggest an ongoing discussion of an event that is currently in progress? No doubt Beilein is closer to retirement today than he was yesterday, so I guess he is technically in the process of retiring. But if we keep this thread open until that day comes, it's likely to get tedious.

Unless he resigns on the air (wishful thinking), this is just going to be yet another string of infuriating non-responses that will only aggravate the fanbase further. I can't even imagine a satisfying soundbite from him at this point. Even if he issued a complete mea culpa and acknowledged every single blunder he's ever made, it would be far too late at this point. I see no reason for him to even give these interviews.

I have these thoughts all the time when the Brandon bashing is going on. People don't like him because of what he has done the last few years. I'll tell you what else has happened the last few years...our football team hasn't been very good. He's trying to keep the ship afloat while there is a sub-par product on the field. (Full disclosure, I do agree that tix are too expensive this year.) But, we all love the renovations to Crisler and sing praises about the improvements to the bball facilities...winning helps paint things in a prettier light (similar upgrades happened to football facilities too). I promise, DB will look much more appealing when the team is better and students don't give a damn about the cost of tickets because they will pay whatever it costs to see a good team.

2) The important thng about Beilein is that he not only puts people into the association, but he puts unknown/low-rated recruits in. How many people predicted, when they were recruited, that THJ, Burke, Stauskas and Levert would even be sniffed by the NBA? That's what makes JB great.

NCAA bylaw 12(c)(iii)(A.154): The transferred student athlete may play immediately at a school beyond the 100 mile radius as long as the school does not provide the student athlete cream cheese for his bagels for one year post-transfer.

You nailed it on the head. I couldn't imagine not going to every second of every game, as I did when I was a student way back when. But, that doesn't mean I was right and everyone else was wrong. Regardless of the reasoning/rationalization, people have a right to choose not to go to games. If I had to guess, a good chunk of the alleged "boycotters" are people who don't really enjoy the games in the first place and are just using the current fodder as an excuse not to renew/purchase. But, in the end, it's each person's choice to make.

The other thing to work on is slowing down the UT OREBs. Getting nit picky after a great half, but it seemed a good chunk of their points were second-chance. We may just be out-sized here, but would be nice to see that number lower in the 2nd half.

In it's current state, it is worth it to state that the state of this blog is fine. You state there is an implied obsession involving MSU, but let me just state, this does not appear to accurately characterize the state of mgoblog or the state of Michigan as a whole.